A Walk in Central Park
by LionessoftheEast
Summary: A month after the Titan War, Thalia heads to New York for a chat with Percy and Annabeth. Percabeth.


Hey guys! This is my first fanfic, so please review. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Disclaimer-I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or it's plots and characters.

* * *

Thalia blew a strand of dark hair out of her eyes with a frustrated _woosh_. Unfortunately, she had overdone it a bit and it blew the bowler hat off of a business man's bald head. He frowned, glancing around the station before setting off in chase of the flying hat.

_Whoops. _She should really be careful about that. It's not every day a teenage girl blows off a hat from twenty feet away. It was like a klaxon alarm for monsters.

Of course, they could smell her anyway. Being a daughter of Zeus had it's disadvantages.

_Not that I can't take them,_ she thought confidently, smiling. The Lieutenant of Artemis could practically dare monsters to attack her- they were pretty much child's play at this point.

Giving her head a little shake, Thalia set off to the escalator out of the subway station. She had some demigods to track down. Two, in particular.

With the Titan War over for about a month, the demigods of Camp Half-Blood were still adjusting to their new peaceful camp. Gone were the guard rotations and desperate searches for new recruits. They didn't need to search much, actually, as the new kids were popping up pretty much everywhere, even overseas. Thalia had been informed of this when she arrived at camp, the Hunters of Artemis in tow.

But the two people she most wanted to see happened to be absent, according to Chiron, attending high school in New York City.

"School will have ended by now," Chiron had told Thalia. "You could try Central Park."

_For both of them? _she had wanted to ask. Sure, they were best friends, but did they like, meet at Central Park everyday?

All Thalia wanted to know was where to find Percy and Annabeth. She hadn't talked to them since right after their council with the Gods, after Percy had turned down immortality. He had said something stupid about not wanted to stay sixteen forever-which Thalia took offense too as she was going to stay sixteen forever-but everyone knew it was for Annabeth.

She needed to see the effects of Percy's decision. But she couldn't find either of the two, and New York was hardly an easy place to search, with it's twenty million inhabitants combined with the thousands of tourists.

_Central Park, _Thalia mused. _Thanks, Chiron. Central Park's only twenty blocks. _

This occurred to her as she was crossing the street to the huge patch of green in the midst of the brick and steel skyscrapers.

_Interesting way to describe it. _

Shaking her head, she sighed. Where to start?

Wait a second- it was obvious! Percy was the son of Poseidon. He was at a pond. Duh.

Summoning her bow and arrows for a moment, both to make sure they were there and to see if anyone pointed and screamed, (a shortcut to finding new demigods) Thalia began to stroll down the paths beneath the centuries old trees, eyes alert for a patch of blue water.

One small pond, two black haired boys and four blond haired girls later, Thalia finally came upon Percy and Annabeth. She had been right, actually. They were sitting on a rock overlooking one of the smaller, more secluded ponds in the park, a farther distance away from the tourists marveling at the green-ness stuck in the middle of a bustling metropolis. She couldn't see the two completely, as they appeared to have backpacks set next to them. Thalia ducked behind a crop of trees, not wanting to interrupt a "moment."

"Wait, how do I do it again?" said Percy. Thalia could hear the frown of confusion in his voice.

"Seaweed brain," Annabeth said, chuckling. "It's not that hard!"

Thalia grinned in anticipation. Were they dating yet?

"Yeah, and I'm Zeus. Geometry is impossible!" Percy retorted jokingly.

She couldn't see it, but Thalia knew Annabeth was rolling her eyes. "Not if you pay attention, Percy. C'mon. Try it again."

"Not if you're a math prodigy, maybe." But the tell-tale sounds of a pencil on paper gave Percy away.

Annabeth laughed, "You think I'm a math prodigy?" but Thalia's attention was focused on something else. In particular, a giant black mass of fur slinking toward the couple, hidden by the shadows.

A hellhound. Crap.

Before Thalia could load an arrow, the dog pounced. Thalia watched in horror and then relief as Annabeth let out a squeak of surprise before rolling out of the way.

She heard the _shink _of Percy drawing Riptide, and a _hiss _as the deadly blade cut into the hellhound. Just in case, Thalia sunk an arrow into the monster's hide.

"You okay?" Percy said, helping Annabeth up. Thalia, peering between two tree trunks, watching as he planted a kiss on her lips.

_Thank the gods, _she thought, grinning.

Annabeth smiled. "Yeah, fine. But Percy, your sword didn't kill it. I saw."

"What did then?" Percy was frowning, searching the rock face for clues.

Annabeth found the answer first. Rolling it in between her fingers, she examined the arrow Thalia had shot into the giant dog.

With a self-satisfied grin, she looked toward the patch of trees Thalia resided behind. "Thalia?"

Grinning, she stepped out into the clearing, hands up in a surrender position. "Guilty as charged. And it took you guys long enough!"

For a moment both teenagers frowned at her in confusion, and then simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"Honestly, you're almost as bad at Clarisse. At least _you _didn't throw us into the lake," Annabeth said, one side of her mouth quirking up as she folded her arms.

"Hey!" Percy replied, nudging her gently with his elbow. "It wasn't _so _bad!"

Annabeth laughed and rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, yeah, okay. What are you doing here anyway, Thals?"

"Looking for you guys," she replied. Thalia sat down, patting two spots next to her for Percy and Annabeth. "Now, what's this about Clarisse and the lake I hear?"


End file.
